Who is TJIC? Honestly, I do not have the foggiest… I know of his webpage, and I know his moniker, but I cannot say as though I read the former, and I do not recall seeing the latter terribly often… but the truth is, if you run a weblog, and you are concerned with either the First or Second Amendments, you are TJIC too.

A blog threatening members of Congress in the wake of the Tucson, Arizona shooting has prompted Arlington police to temporarily suspend the firearms license of an Arlington man.
It was the headline “1 down and 534 to go” that caught the attention. “One” refers to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in the rampage, while 534 refers to the other members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Police are investigating the “suitability” of 39-year-old Travis Corcoran to have a firearms license.

And for the sake of clarity, understand that this gross abuse of governmental powers is taking place in Massachusetts, where one cannot possess so much as an expended .22 case without a firearms license.

Additionally, just so we are all on the same page, below is a transcript of the TJIC post in question, entitled “1 down, 534 to go”, as retrieved from this Bing cache:

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Arizona Public Media reported Saturday.

The 40-year-old Democrat, who was re-elected to her third term in November, was hosting a “Congress on Your Corner” event at a Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.

At least nine other people, including members of her staff, were hurt. Giffords was transported to University Medical Center in Tucson. Her condition was not immediately known.

Giffords was talking to a couple when the suspect ran up firing indiscriminately and then ran off, Michaels said.

It is absolutely, absolutely unacceptable to shoot “indiscriminately”.

Target only politicians and their staff, and leave regular citizens alone.

Please!

I have absolutely no problems in admitting that, even with my occasionally quite morbid sense of humor, I find TJIC’s post and joke to be somewhat distasteful, and rather inappropriate for the circumstances… but, so what? I also find it distasteful to put an upside-down crucifix into a urinal full of piss, but that kind of expression is protected by the First Amendment, and thus shielded from any individual’s personal tastes and biases, and, coincidentally, so is TJIC’s post. Unfortunately, the Arlington Police Department does not seem to have a copy of the Constitution handy.

“But wait,” you are saying, “If this TJIC character really threatened government officials, there must be criminal charges, right?” Wrong.

Corcoran, who has no criminal history, has not been arrested and does not face any charges. Arlington police saying they are working with the Capitol Police in their investigation, and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation have been alerted.

No criminal history. No arrest. No criminal charges. And yet the Arlington Police Department “visited” his home, suspended his firearm license (for an unknown amount of time… it might even be revoked, pending “investigation”), and confiscated at least 11 firearms.

Let that sink in for a moment. TJIC (whose carbon name appears to be Travis Corcoran) committed no crime and made no actual threat of violence, or at least not one that his police department was willing to arrest him over, or charge him with. However, that same police department effectively stole his property, and may eventually be forcing him to sell off more of it (again, if his permit is revoked, he has to unload all of his firearms). Is the phrase “due process” completely alien to the state of Massachusetts?

There are no two ways around it, people – this is a blatant attack, by the Arlington, MA police department, against the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution, and should be regarded as such.

The irony, of course, is that situations like these are exactly the kinds of things that prompt people like TJIC to make the jokes he did…

Having such draconian steps taken against someone who has done nothing more than post their opinion is bone-chilling. While it’s not at the level of being dragged off to a re-education camp or icy gulag – yet – it’s a step on that slippery slope. To those of you on the left applauding the actions taken against TJIC: how would you feel if that were a left-wing blogger in Texas getting audited over something unflattering they wrote about GWB three years ago? The Bill of Rights is a sum-total package; we take all the freedoms enumerated therein or we take none of them. For far too long both the left and the right have viewed the BoR as a buffet, where some rights are added to the dinner plate with gusto while others are left to languish – or worse, removed entirely from the menu.

Likewise, Borepatch, the originator of the above graphic and recent refugee from Massafrakkingchusetts, opined the following:

So, what do we know about the Arlington Police Department? We know that they’re lazy – nobody assigned to watch over this “dangerous” suspect. We know that they’re biased – Arlington is a hotbed of George W. Bush hatred, and the last decade would offer a wealth of examples of similar or worse speech, none of which was investigated.

And we know that they’re idiots. It’s not like there isn’t a ton of case law on how the First Amendment applies to threats of political violence. Arlington will lose this, if it ever gets to trial. Post Heller and McDonald, they’ll lose even worse. Idiots.

(As a brief aside, if I have said it once, I have said it more times than I care to count: registration leads to confiscation. Period. Since TJIC had to register all of his firearms with the state of Massachusetts, the police knew exactly where to look when they were ready to infringe on his Constitutionally-protected rights – would the police in non-registration states be so informed, or so bold?)

8 comments to i am tjic

To add insult to injury, because of a quirk in MA law, his firearms may be turned over to a private warehouse, which, rumor is, would charge him *thousands* to have them returned if the police decide he’s still suitable. Many people in this position simply call them a loss, and buy new ones, as it’s cheaper.

Mass laws are ass backwards! I have my LTC in MA and travel to RI quite a bit. I was inquiring about getting my RI CCW and was informed RI hates to give these out to out-of-staters. Under MA laws, if RI turns me down, I am then considered “an undersirable person”, and my town’s police chief can pull my permit because I have been refused a permit in another state.

@ ZK: Crap on a crutch! Can he not turn his firearms over to an FFL? Or is it specifically noted that he must turn them over to this one, specific, high-cost warehouse? If the latter, that is simply beyond absurd!

@ Kevin S: He seems to be commenting on some weblogs addressing his situation, so something tells me the news will eventually filter down the grapevine… I would imagine he and his lawyer are currently working on damage control and assessment.

@ Link P: That would be my guess as well… Nuke the page until this is dealt with, and then figure out what can and cannot be reposted. But, then, I am not a lawyer, nor his webhoster, so I guess we will not know for now :).

@ Scott: … Wow. Are there really any hard-and-fast rules about what sheriffs are permitted to yank your permit over, or is it more of a, “If they have cause,” with no cause specified?